GPS Navigation Help (1 Viewer)

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kanona29

kanona29

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Ok, so I know some of you have GPS navigation. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a GOOD portable GPS system for my car? I have to drive all over with my job, so I feel that this will be a beneficial investment.


The problem is that I don't know a thing about GPS and what's a good buy or not. I have been looking around, but I can't tell what's good or better for me.


I will say that I don't want to pay more than $300.00 for one and I do like the touch screen option and I need reliable updated directions.


Mods, please don't move this to the Tech board. I can get more and quicker advice here in the EE and I am hoping to find something by this week, so I won't keep this thread up for a long time. Thanx! :)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
I bought a Garmin a year ago for just under $400 from Costco.com. It's got a touch screen with color. There was a model for $200 that was black and white with NO touch screen. I highly recommend the touch screen.

My model comes with a memory card, so all of the US isn't preloaded onto the unit. I bought a 1GB card and downloaded a newer version of the US Maps that is compressed so the the whole US fits on my card. Otherwise you would be restricted to about 10 states at a time.

I've seen some good deals on GPS models for this Friday. Check out gottadeal.com for the ads. Take into account a few things - touch screen is very nice and most of those will have a color screen. You said you travel a lot - if you travel the whole country then more memory will be important (and more expensive). The nicer models will also let you input multiple stops.

The coolest thing mine does is an estimated time of arrival. I go back and forth to New Orleans a lot, and even though I know the way by heart the GPS lets me know withing about 15 minutes how far away I am from my destination. Very nice option I never even though about before, especially when going someplace new. My boss bought a GPS that doesn't do this and he was disappointed.

Good luck and check out those deals!
 
I bought my wife a Garmin Streetpilot for her birthday last August. She loves it. I got it for about $300.00. I would recommend it.
 
Thanx guys! So far I have been looking at the Garmin models. They seem to be well-liked and reliable. I was looking at the garmin c330 and c340 since they are more around my price range.

I went to Best Buy and Circuit City today to get a feel of how these models look and compare to others.

I don't travel all over the country. I mainly travel all over the boroughs in NY and sometimes I have to take different routes and it's a pain to have to go on Yahoo Maps/Mapquest to figure out my route for that particular day.

Now I'm just trying to figure out if it's better to buy a GPS system that has preloaded maps or one where I have to download maps onto the system.

I'm going to check out the links you guys have posted so far....Thanks again for all your help!
 
Kanona,

I feel you pain. Since getting a vehicle with GPS we've saved a ton of time getting places up here. You can be in the middle of something and someone can tell you, hey come on over....okay...your address is...then key that in and you're there. With the Honda system it's preloaded with restaurants, shopping centers, government offices, etc. So say you're looking for the closest shoe store, you just key in stores, sort by distance to travel and you'll get a listing of stores in your area including a phone number. Then you can either call the store or have the Nav system lock in on it.

It's absolutely awesome! GPS is a lifestyle changer; so do it. And if you're in the market for a new vehicle....you might want to look below...in addition to the Nav system it comes with Vehicle Stability Control and side curtain airbags.

BE_EXLV6_34FRONT.jpg


http://automobiles.honda.com/models....asp?ModelName=Accord+Sedan&Category=EX-L+V-6
 
Last edited:
Pure Energy said:
Kanona,

I feel you pain. Since getting a vehicle with GPS we've saved a ton of time getting places up here. You can be in the middle of something and someone can tell you, hey come on over....okay...your address is...then key that in and you're there. With the Honda system it's preloaded with restaurants, shopping centers, government offices, etc. So say you're looking for the closest shoe store, you just key in stores, sort by distance to travel and you'll get a listing of stores in your area including a phone number. Then you can either call the store or have the Nav system lock in on it.

It's absolutely awesome! GPS is a lifestyle changer; so do it. And if you're in the market for a new vehicle....you might want to look below...in addition to the Nav system it comes with Vehicle Stability Control and side curtain airbags.

BE_EXLV6_34FRONT.jpg


http://automobiles.honda.com/models....asp?ModelName=Accord+Sedan&Category=EX-L+V-6
Click to expand...

The Garmin units all do the same thing (minus airbags and stability control of course).

If your going to spend 2-3k at the dealership then you might as well get this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-06-PIONEER-...6QQihZ008QQcategoryZ79834QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That way you can have the TV, DVD, GPS, 30gig HD to store music, rear view camera and just about anything else you want to do with it.
 
another plug for any Garmin unit. High Quality product and a pioneer in handheld GPS technology. Bought a nitrogen filled unit 10 years agon and still going strong.
 
I am currently leasing a car so it won't be til another couple of years before I get myself into a new car. I love Hondas though so i'll be sure to check out their line when the time comes up.



But fortunately in the meantime the Garmin Navigation seems to be able to do all the things that you described thus far!

I got an e-mail from Circuit City and apparently the Garmin c340 will be on sale for $349.99 tomorrow which means I have to try to tackle Black Friday which i have NEVER done before. I am truly scared...lol

The stores open up for 5am tomorrow. I just hope I can make it there for that time because I haven't found the Garmin c340 to be any cheaper at any other store. Wish me luck!!
 
Another +1 for Garmin. I have a street pilot I5 which isn't touch screen,(only 1 button to use) but is only as big as a tennis ball, color screen, voice directions, and the entire North America database pre loaded. Amazon has it for 299.99. I love mine. Small and unobtrusive.
 

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